Devil's Night
by thejilyship
Summary: On the night of October 30, 1981, the night before Voldemort kills James and Lily, James takes some time to reflect on the events that made them go into hiding and everything that came with it. One-Shot.


**AN: Hello everyone, this story is about the night before Voldemort comes to kill the Potter's. James is reflecting on what led them into hiding, what he actually wants to be doing, and the whole fiasco with who the traitor is. **

**Devils Night is the night before Halloween, just incase you were wondering where the title came from.**

**Devils Night**

The house in Godrics Hallow was small, that was for sure, but the whole situation was only temporary. Soon, he Lily and Harry would pack up their things and move into the Potter Manor. Soon this would all be over, nothing more then a memory, and he could start teaching Harry how to ride a broom, pretend he didn't hear Sirius as he tried to get Harry to swear, and start training him to be the best chaser that Britain had ever seen. 'The one with the power to vanquish the dark lord.' Sure it sounded cool, but Harry was just barely one year old, he wasn't supposed to save the entire wizarding world, he was supposed to do stuff that one year olds did. Like eat, spit up, cry, and sleep.

Lily was in the kitchen at the moment, which was only about twelve steps from where James stood in the living room. He could hear everything she was doing, the scooping of the baby food, the scraping sound the spoon made as it slid over Harry's only tooth, both of them breathing. Where the later did give him some comfort, it was still like living in a closet and James was starting to get stir crazy. He sighed as he plopped down on the sofa.

Tomorrow was Halloween. James had found this out from Lily, who had told him without actually thinking of what would happen. Apparently, it was a muggle holiday where children dress up as 'imaginary' creatures and go around house to house collecting candy. James was excited beyond control when he found this out and had every intention of taking Harry out to par take in this wonderful holiday. It would be Harry's first Halloween that he could walk in, and James had made a plan to dress him up as Puddlemere United's captain, Kirk Raweino, never mind that Harry wouldn't be able to eat the candy, James had assured Lily that he would find something to do with the sweets when she brought up this little flaw. But now he was in hiding and couldn't even leave his house, let alone take Harry trick-or-treating.

This whole arrangement sucked. He hadn't seen Sirius, Remus, or even Peter in days, and that was starting to take its toll on him. Since they were eleven and met on the train, they hadn't spent more then a few days apart, and even then they were in constant contact with the two way mirrors that he and Sirius made, or with letters. Remus had told them on a number of occasions that he and his mother always got strange looks when they went out and walked about their neighborhood because they were the house with the continuous stream of owls coming in and out of it. They were the 'weird' neighbors.

Peter was another story. He had taken to hanging around with his cousins more lately, so they didn't see him that often, but that was only because of the war. Peter wasn't a soldier, hell, he wasn't even a fighter. He was the guy who stood in the corner and might have ran to get the nurse if somebody was seriously hurt, but then again, he might have just ran the other way with his tail between his legs. He was scared, and didn't want to stand up for what was right. If he had been a more competent wizard, this would have bothered James, but he wasn't. He only held his wand correctly three out of five times. He wouldn't last ten minuets in a battle with the death eaters, so James put up with the fact that one of his best friends was hiding in another country.

No, it was Sirius and Remus that he missed the most. Ever since this whole mess with the prophecy had started, James didn't know who he could trust. But what did it say about him. If he couldn't even trust his three very best friends, what kind of person was he?

As soon as Dumbledore had held that stupid order meeting, and mentioned that he thought there might be a spy, a spy that was probably somebody close to the Potter's, the Marauder's had held their own meeting.

At first, they had just laughed it off. What would cause any of them, _them_ to start working for the dark side? To sink so low, and start working for Voldemort? Nothing would, and they all knew that, they were brothers, and brothers stuck together. They had each others backs, but no, it was more then that. They would die for each other. Nothing would make them turn against one another. When the rest of the world was questioning who they could trust, the Marauder's, as always, were one step ahead of them. They had it all figured out.

But then they weren't so sure. It was just too much of a coincidence for them to over look. Voldemort knew things that he shouldn't know, he was figuring out things that the Marauder's hadn't told anyone, he knew their secrets. Somebody on the inside had to be feeding him information. There wasn't another plausible explanation.

So then the accusations started. And James had never been so glad that it was him that Voldemort was after until he heard the argument between Remus and Sirius. James and Peter had just sat on the couch with open mouths, and watched as two of their best friends ripped each other apart.

Peter was almost in tears by the time the yelling had ceased, and it only stopped because Remus had stormed out of Grimwood place. Leaving a red faced Sirius sprawled on the ground, and a table in shambles.

In all of their time together, James had never been frightened of Remus, or seen him lose his temper. But he had actually hit Sirius. Punched him right in the face, knocking him to the ground, and then stormed out. He had expected Remus to turn back around, in true Remus fashion, and apologize right after it had happened. But he hadn't…

That's when James started to think that maybe, just maybe, Sirius had a point. Remus was different. Different enough to become a death eater? Well, he sure hoped not.

But hoping wasn't going to keep his wife and child safe, was it? When Sirius suggested that they switch the secret keeper to Peter, James thought that it was a brilliant plan, a bluff. Sirius would keep pretending to be the secret keeper, and Peter would actually be the one they entrusted their lives to. I mean, sure James had wanted Sirius to do it, because he had been an important part of the Potter's life thus far. He had been James' best man, he was Harry's Godfather, and _the_ best friend that anyone could ask for. Sirius wouldn't have sold James and Lily out if it was a matter of life or death, and Sirius knew that it would be weather he was the secret keeper or not. Everyone was going to assume that it was Sirius anyway. That's why he hadn't wanted to take the job. It would be asking for trouble.

That's why James had agreed to switch in the end. Making Sirius the secret keeper would be putting the target on his best friend and all but saying the spell that would kill him. James hadn't wanted to make him the secret keeper in the first place, but at first Sirius had insisted. And James trusted Sirius more then anyone else, he wasn't going to turn him down for long. Not when the help was so badly needed.

Dumbledore had offered, but James had thought that the old man had enough on his plate without worrying about the Potter's. And he sure didn't want to be the reason that Dumbledore was targeted. If he was the secret keeper, Voldemort might not be so hesitant about attacking him. If something happened to Dumbledore, then everyone was going to die. James was sure of it. So he respectfully declined, making everyone in the order think he was completely crazy.

He was jostled out of his daze when the cat jumped up on his lap and rubbed his tail over James face. He pushed the tail away and pet the large ball of white fur. He didn't exactly like that damn thing. But Lily had insisted, and he never could say no to her. It had a squashed face that gave it the appearance of having been slammed into a wall repeatedly and never did much but hiss at James and sleep. Oh, it did bring small dead rodents to their door step. James loved that. He would walk out to go to work and step on the entrails of some small mouse, rabbit, or squirrel.

James was a bit shocked by the cats' sudden show of affection. He hadn't even taken the time to remember the cat's name because it hated him so. He couldn't even walk into the same room as the thing without it hissing, growling, and then slinking out of the door.

It rubbed its head against James' hand and started to purr. "What is up with you?" He asked it while scratching its ear. In the other room he could hear his son laughing at something as Lily cooed nonsense, only making Harry giggle more. James couldn't help but smile. He pushed the cat off of his lap, causing it to growl indignantly, and stood up. He took the twelve steps towards the kitchen and leaned on the door frame. He stood there for a moment completely content, watching his wife scoop the baby food off of Harry's chin with a miniature spoon and contorting her face as she tried to get it back into Harry's mouth. James' chuckled and Lily whipped around, she had a big smile on her face, and her eyes were alive in a way that James hadn't seen in months. She finally felt safe, and it showed. And that was all the reason James needed to stay locked up in this little house. If she was safe and happy enough, he could bare it. He would do anything for her and Harry.

"What are you laughing at Daddy?" She asked, still using her 'Harry' voice. This made the small boy laugh and Lily turned back to give him another scoop of baby food.

"My silly Wife." James said walking over to the highchair and sitting in a chair next to Lily.

"Da da!" Harry shirked suddenly, as he pounded his small fist on the tray and sent small bits of cracker crumbs flying to the floor.

"What is it my little man?" James asked musing Harry's small mop of black hair. It was already acting just as unruly as James' was and there was hardly any on his head. James' had joked to Lily that it was a sign of the years to come. But Lily remained determined to not let Harry turn out _exactly_ like James. She loved her husband, but she didn't think she could put up with the 'school' James again. She had barely made it out alive the first time. Between the love letters, the constant attempts to get her to go out with him, and then just _him_ in general, it was a wonder how she managed to do so well in school.

Harry just laughed some more and then stuck a pudgy little fist into his mouth.

Lily caught her husband's eyes and lifted a hand to his face. "We're safe now." She whispered. He took her hand in his, and then kissed it lightly.

"I know." He said smiling. "I know."

**Hope you guys liked that. I hope you review and tell me what you think. :D**

**~Craz**


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